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OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent Launch Heralds a Future Powered by Agentic AI

OpenAI just launched ChatGPT Agent, a new tool designed to think and act on behalf of the user and simplify easy tasks further.
AI Featured Technology
Anna Versai

OpenAI is making its agentic AI dreams come true with its latest update, using the ChatGPT agent launch to set the stage for its rumored browser release. OpenAI’s newest offering for Pro, Plus, and Team plan subscribers is a new AI agent that can execute various digital actions on behalf of the user. This ChatGPT agent can handle tasks such as setting calendar events for a user by connecting with their apps, running code for them, or even creating presentations and spreadsheets.

Described as a “unified agentic system combining Operator’s action-taking remote browser, deep research’s web synthesis, and ChatGPT’s conversational strengths,” OpenAI’s agent launch is meant to allow users to see its AI tool as more than just an unfeeling conversationalist. The  general-purpose ChatGPT Agent brings us another step closer to the future that tech giants are imagining for us—one where we are all reliant on AI tools for tasks that don’t feel worth doing. Exciting times lie ahead.

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Image: Pexels

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent Launch Is Intended for Paying Customers For Now

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Agent is not the first AI tool of its kind. Humane AI attempted to do something similar with its faulty hardware launch, and so did Rabbit with their R1 device. Where novel gadgets have failed, AI assistants built into existing systems have seen some success, managing better as AI support systems that can help users with tasks that are routinely boring. We’ve all gotten used to yelling at Alexa to find information we don’t want to look up ourselves or requesting Gemini to make a list of suggestions, so AI tools do have some use, but OpenAI is looking at a wider use case with the release of its agent.

The name of the tool, ChatGPT Agent, doesn’t necessarily win any points for creativity, but OpenAI is hoping to woo with performance, not style. It builds on the capabilities of the company’s existing tools and puts them together to give users a one-stop shop to get through all of their queries. It borrows from Operator, which is another of OpenAI’s agentic tools designed to handle browser-based operations for users. Another contributor to the agent is Deep Research, which showcases an ability to create more in-depth reports on user queries. 

Over the last few years, OpenAI has developed an arsenal of different tools that serve their own niche purposes independently, but they can also be put together to do more than just respond with simplistic answers. 

What Do We Know About the ChatGPT-Operator-Deep Research Agent?

On July 17, shortly before OpenAI was set to hold a livestream, the company posted a teaser with the names of three of its tools, ChatGPT, Operator, and Deep Research, all laid out with the handshake emoji between them to suggest some form of collaboration. With the launch of the ChatGPT Agent, it became apparent why. This updated version of ChatGPT performs as a unified agentic artificial intelligence tool that can access your accounts, consolidate information, and navigate the web independently to perform some limited actions.

OpenAI used the example of a wedding guest planning out their arrival at the event and considering the gifts they should buy while they are at it. The presenters showcased how the AI agent was capable of working out the details slowly while also listing out all its reasoning. This gives users a chance to review it as it works in real time or interrupt it to ask follow-up questions.  The OpenAI tool can also be used as a coding agent if that’s what you need help with, so there are a lot of ways to put it to use.

The tech demo, while impressive in theory, looked to reveal very generic results that one might manage with their own Google search, but there is potential for improvement. 

Some Considerations Before You Use ChatGPT Agent

To make all of this possible, ChatGPT Agent uses its own model, with access to “an entire computer” rather than just a browser. The OpenAI team cautioned that the tool may be slow as it worked on all the details, as it had been optimized for hard tasks. The company also acknowledges that ChatGPT AI could soon be a target of malicious activity, but it is working to set checks and guardrails in place.

Now, the ChatGPT Agent is capable of executing tasks on its own, not just planning for them, but the company reassured users that it will ask for confirmation before sending out an email or booking a table for your next date night. The ChatGPT Agent is designed to refuse high-risk tasks like initiating bank transfers, but it’s best to exercise caution and avoid giving AI access to such data or trying to perform sensitive tasks with its help.

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Image: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent in action, performing complex tasks and explaining its reasoning along the way.

Who Can Use the Newly Launched ChatGPT Agent?

Following the announcement made regarding the ChatGPT Agent’s launch on Thursday, the tool became available to Pro users, with Team and Plus subscribers expected to get access soon. Enterprise and Education users will also be able to use the tool later this year. Users in the European Economic Area and Switzerland might have to wait even longer for the tool to make an appearance.

Depending on the plan, users will have a limited number of queries at their disposal to test and try out. Reports suggest that members with a Pro plan will get 400 queries a month, while Team and Plus subscribers will get only 40 a month. That’s quite a difference in quantity, but this is likely a way for OpenAI to push more of its customers to go Pro.

If you’ve already subscribed to one of these plans, you can simply pick the “agent mode” in the tools menu to get started with the ChatGPT Agent. You’ll have to give the AI access your connectors in order for it to pick up relevant data from these platforms.

Are We All Set for the ChatGPT Browser Launch?

With the ChatGPT Agent set to handle tasks and automate work for the user, OpenAI has leaped forward in its AI offerings. Now we might be jumping the gun by preparing for its next release already, but we expect that it will be a big one. OpenAI is reportedly working on releasing its own browser where all of these tasks can occur within the browser page instead of having to make your way to the OpenAI website or app. 

With the goals to outrank Chrome and catch up to Perplexity’s AI browser Comet, OpenAI has its work cut out for it as it gets set to reach a wider array of customers with AI. The company also recently partnered with Jony Ive to work on hardware releases that take us beyond the laptop and smartphone. Most tech giants are working to lead the way in AI innovation, but OpenAI appears to be the most committed to making sure the future is comprehensively driven by its AI tools. The launch of the ChatGPT Agent appears to be a testing run for a much bigger project.

As enticing as a real-life J.A.R.V.I.S companion sounds in theory, we appear to be a while away from actual AI agents that can independently think, perform, and respond in ways that actively improve our quality of life. So far, many of these tools only serve to infantilize the user and complicate simple tasks that can be performed much quicker on your own, but it’s hard to deny tech giants their turn at revolutionizing the world as we know it. 

All said and done, the ChatGPT Agent did launch to applause, so it could be a good first step to reaching the futuristic capabilities that companies are in pursuit of.

 

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